Ally Cat
by xXxLadyFreakyStyleyxXx
Summary: Alice Winters is a troubled girl who can't go home to her mother for fear of pain from a bitter father, lucky for her a group of greasers are here to lend her a hand. However, she didn't count on what would happen along the way... PonyboyxReader
1. Introducing Her

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders novel or movie, The novel is by S.E. Hinton and the movie was directed and produced by Francis Ford Copella****

**A/N:**** Just a small notice before you began to read; I wrote this in seventh grade. So please, be gentle with the reviews,**** yeah? ****  
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Ally Cat: An Outsiders Fanfiction

Written by Lady F.S.

It was the Friday night of a cold Oklahoma's day and Dallas, Ponyboy and Johnny were walking the streets to who knows where, well Dallas knew but he didn't say. "Where are we goin'?" Ponyboy asked after he took one more drag on his cigarette. "I was thinkin' maybe we could go to the Nightly Double, we haven't been there in a while." Dally pointed out. Dead silence hit the gang as they remembered what had happened last time they went to the Nightly Double, lets recap: Socs jump Johnny and Pony, Soc tries to drown Pony, Johnny kills the soc, Ponyboy and him ran away, the church they lived in burned down, they rescued the kids inside, Johnny almost died in the fire, they almost went to jail, the end. It had been a year since then but the gang could never forget what had happened in those few days.

After that Johnny decided it would be safe to reunite with an old friend of his. A girl who was about Ponyboy's age that Johnny had known since he was nine. Her name was Alice. Johnny had introduced her to everyone in the gang except Dally because he was doing more time in the slammer because he knocked off a store and Soda and Darry were workin so much they never had the time. He imagined she would be at the lot waiting for him right about now so he thought maybe it'd be a good idea to go get her but he wasn't sure. Ponyboy only knew a few things about her but he thought she was an okay girl.

Alice and Johnny never talked much anyways but as for the rest of the gang it was insanely awkward whenever the dead silence would follow after anything relating to the subject of those awful events ever came up. They had been very good friends for a while but for the time being she was in a different part of the state and only when she came back did she find out what happened now she was trying not to mention it as much as possible. Ponyboy could already tell what Johnny was thinking just by exchanging looks. An uneasy feeling always set itself in the pit of his stomach when he thought about returning to the Nightly Double. Johnny went pale as a ghost and his eyes raced with a great uncertainty.

Even though Ponyboy only caught his eyes for a second he could tell he didn't want to go. "We don't wanna go Dal, sorry." Dally took a long drag on his cigarette, shrugged, and kept on walking. He walked off into the darkness looking tough as always, leaving the three of them alone in the dead of night. "Dally sure knows how to make a tuff exit." Johnny said in admiration. Ponyboy watched Dally stalk off into the dark and saw a little bit of what Johnny saw in Dallas Winston, a tuff-looking hood that could be cool when ever he wanted.

"Ya wanna go to my house?" Ponyboy offered. Johnny nodded. "But first we gotta go get Alice from the lot." He added. As they were walking down the street Ponyboy's mind began to wonder and one thing that came across his mind was Alice. All he knew was that she was driven from her house by her father when she was nine and surprisingly survived on their streets for about a month. She had run away from home in the dead of night because her parents were fighting and her father had belted her with a wine bottle, which gave her quite a scar that went from her shoulder to her forearm, and told her to get out, and that's exactly what she did.

Alice met Johnny in the lot a month later. He was already there when she ran up to the curb with a dark bruise on her cheek. She was afraid and on the verge of tears, she was shaking she was scared so bad. He was curious so he confronted her and they started talking, she had started to actually cry and in an attempt to comfort her Johnny held her without hesitation and let her cry out all her tears until she was ready to tell him her story. For the first time in her life she had gotten jumped.

A couple of Socs had got hold of her while she was walking near an ally and decided to push her around a little for kicks. When she refused to let them toy with her any longer they became vicious and one of them threw a beer bottle at her. Soon after they discovered they had more in common then they thought and for the first time Johnny opened up, and to someone he barely knew. Johnny said that he saw so much of his problems in her and he couldn't help but get involved and as time passed they turned into good friends. It was a friendship of six years and still going that had made them as close as they were and they only got closer ever since.

Ponyboy remembered the way she looked when he first met her. Alice was about as tall as Johnny but a bit shorter and had a nice figure going for her. She was wearing a pair of black high tops and faded blue jeans with holes in them and torn up ends, and a grey jacket that had the words "U.S. Marines" sewn on the back with black stitching with sleeves that stretched to her finger tips and a dog tag necklace, her brother James was in the army and had sent her a few things for her to hold onto so she wouldn't miss him as much. Alice had long, wavy, dark brown hair that went down to her hips and curled as it reached the ends and bounced when she ran. Her eyes were deep and dark brown and almost identical to Johnny's save for the color and the jittery-ness.

Alice was the same age as Ponyboy save for the two month difference but the gang treated her just like Johnny, they were always polite and tried to make her feel as welcome into the gang as possible. When the gang had gotten to know her well enough, save for Dally, Darry, and Soda, she didn't seem to care when they're true selves came out. As they rounded the street corner just as Johnny had said there was the small figure of his friend waiting for them under the glow of a dim streetlight. The wind made her hair wave slightly and the way she was leaning against the light post made her almost look like a greaser. Ponyboy noticed Johnny's eyes light up slightly at the sight of his friend as they drew closer.

One thing he didn't get was why she loved being with Two-bit. She laughed at every single one of his jokes, besides Johnny, Two-bit was the only one who really could get her talking and Ponyboy could never understand why. Alice noticed that Ponyboy was staring at her when they approached her and she quickly hid behind Johnny. Johnny looked behind himself in curiosity and then saw Ponyboy's ears were as red as tomatoes as he kept his eyes glued to the sidewalk. He laughed a bit and Alice continued standing behind him like a stray puppy following a little boy home. "We better get going then." Ponyboy mumbled.

Johnny nodded and motioned for Alice to come with them. She stayed close to his side as they walked and kept her eyes on the sidewalk in front of her. The walk was very quiet save for a few words Ponyboy and Johnny would exchange with each other, however if Ponyboy tried to involve Alice in the conversation she would only nod or shake her head. Never would she speak and as patient as he tried to be with her it began to offend him slightly as the rejections to speak with him slowly increased through out the trip, he wondered what could he have done to keep her from speaking to him. As they approached the house Alice heard some dogs began to bark loudly and rustle the fences with their paws and she clung to Johnny's arm until they got to the front porch of the house.

Ponyboy thought it was kind of cute how easily frightened she could get. He opened the door and Johnny and Alice followed him into the old house. Darry and Sodapop hadn't met Alice yet let alone knew their names, they were always working so how could she? She didn't even know Ponyboy's name. The whole time she was with the gang he told them not to mention his name when she was around and just call him Curtis, he was afraid she'd laugh like every other girl he told did, he was trying to imagine the reaction she'd have when she'd find out his name let alone Soda's.

Darry was in the arm chair reading the paper and Sodapop was in the living room watching Looney Tunes. "I'm home!" Ponyboy called out as he shut the door behind Alice. Sodapop jumped up from the couch and tackled Ponyboy to the ground. "Welcome home little brother!" He said cheerfully while messing with his hair. "Come on Soda, not in front of a girl!" Sodapop looked up and saw a dark haired girl hiding behind Johnny.

Soda released Ponyboy and stood up. He held out his hand in front of the girl. "Sodapop Curtis, pleasure to meet you ma'am." He introduced playfully. She smiled a bit and shook it nervously. "Hey Darry, come here that new girl is here." Darry lifted himself off the arm chair and made his way towards the crowd. He extended his hand just like Soda did and nodded as a gesture of saying 'hi'.

Alice was hesitant but she shook it. Darry was the toughest looking guy out of the whole group in that room and he kind of scared Alice. No one but Johnny had heard Alice talk so everyone was a bit eager to hear her voice for the first time ever but since it was her first night at the Curtis house Johnny had told them to lay off before hand and let her go at her own pace. Based on what he'd seen, Ponyboy imagined her voice being soft and gentle because that's the kind of person she was. It was quiet at first. It bothered Sodapop so he started the conversation.

"So Alice, do you live around here?" She nodded. "Really, what neighborhood?" Everybody, even Alice knew that the Curtis brothers' main goal that night was to hear her talk for the first time but she didn't say a word. She turned to Johnny and he said "She lives in an abandoned house a couple blocks from here." They were confused. "Why does she-" Ponyboy interrupted Soda by elbowing him and giving him a look that told him that subject was off limits. Darry wasn't really a talker when he met someone new, so he wasn't very involved in the conversation.

Sodapop elbowed him in the side and said "What's the matter Darry? Cat got your tongue?" Ponyboy and Johnny laughed a bit but Alice just smiled. Darry rolled his eyes and let out a small sigh. "Hey Alice, I hear you play?" Ponyboy asked as he pointed at the old baby grand piano that was sitting in their dining room. She only nodded, keeping her speechless streak through out the conversation.

"So do I, wanna try it out?" Alice hesitated to answer him but eventually she nodded again. Ponyboy lead her to the piano and she sat on the small black bench with her hands in her lap. Johnny tapped her shoulder and they exchanged looks, after that she moved her hands over the keys and began to play. She had chosen Prelude in E minor Opt. 28 No.4 by Chopin. The boys only watched in awe as her fingers glided across the keys with grace.

She played the piece with ease, with the occasional mistake but she made sure to keep a straight face and keep the soothing tempo. The conclusion was most interesting because it had to sound dramatic and calming at the same time, even though it was a difficult task she only barely managed it. As the last notes were played the boys were falling out of the trance they had been put in when the music started. It was finished, no one spoke but Alice turned to see they all had astonished looks on their faces. Alice looked at Johnny who also looked impressed.

She tugged on his sleeve and said "Johnny?" in her soft and innocent voice. This immediately caught their attention and Soda and Ponyboy's eyes widened at the sound. Johnny snapped out of it and came too. "Wow Alice, I didn't know you could play so good." Alice smiled at him and nodded. "Yes!" The Curtis brothers cheered as they slapped five.

Johnny rolled his eyes while Alice only giggled. Only Ponyboy heard her that time, Sodapop continued to celebrate like he had found the holy grail. 'It sounds so soft.' He thought to himself as he stared into her smile. "You know I was startin' to think you didn't have a voice at all." Soda teased patting her on the back. Alice didn't say anything she just smiled at him timidly.

"Very funny Soda." She replied just as softly as before as she stood up from the bench. "Yes! There it is again!" Soda cheered. He held up his hand for a high five and she slapped it gently. "Come on Soda is it really that big a deal?" Johnny asked. "Easy for you to say you hear it all the time." Soda complained.

"If you wanted to hear me so bad you could've just asked Soda I don't mind." She interrupted quietly. Ponyboy's and Sodapop's mouths both dropped open. "What!" Alice flinched a bit and hid behind Johnny. "Of course you have to make it comfortable for her first." Johnny mumbled as he looked behind himself as Alice gripped the back of his jean jacket and peeked out from behind him. The Curtis brothers calmed down a bit.

Ponyboy jammed his fists in his pockets to try and look tough, Sodapop caught this and snickered a bit. "Hey Johnnycake, you wanna call up the Nightly Double and see if Dallas is done there yet?" Johnny pondered it for a moment, by now Alice was standing by his side but she had recluded to her shy self and kept her hands in front of her avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. Ponyboy looked at her, she looked like an innocent girl who could get hurt so easily and couldn't help but wonder how she managed to make it the month after she had been kicked out of her house. "I bet the movie's done by now whaddya say?" Johnny nodded and followed Soda into the kitchen to the phone while Darry left the room to go to the bathroom. Alice and Ponyboy were both alone in the room, not once making eye contact in the dead silence of the moment.

Ponyboy tilted his head up just a little bit to see what she was doing. Alice had stood there looking at the ground in front of her, she looked up at Ponyboy and when there eyes met she flushed and quickly redirected her vision to the floor once again. Ponyboy was relieved to have her look away first because he could feel his face getting hot which meant one thing, he was blushing. "What's your name?" She asked softly. Her question had caught him off guard so he didn't answer right away.

He looked over at her. She wasn't blushing anymore but she had a nervous look on her face. "My name….?" Ponyboy knew if he told her she would laugh at him and then say the usual 'That's you're name, seriously?'. Alice nodded eagerly, she was curious to know his name, She already found out Sodapop's and she liked it and Darry's too but she didn't know Ponyboy's. "I know that Curtis is your last name, and I don't know why the gang calls you that but I couldn't help but wonder what your first name is, can you tell me?" She asked timidly.

He had to now, he couldn't say no to her he just couldn't. "P-Ponyboy Curtis." He mumbled nervously looking toward the wall. Alice giggled a bit and smiled at him. It was a tender smile not a mocking one. "I knew you'd laugh." He muttered. Alice lost her smile and realized that he had taken it the wrong way.

"No I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing because…" She couldn't tell him she laughed because she thought he was cute. "What?" He demanded in a bitter tone. It was silent for a moment then he directed a cold stare toward her position. "I…" She couldn't finish. She was too afraid to say what she wanted and the longer she hesitated, the more upset he would be.

"Spit it out already." He ordered. She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "I can't." She said. He scoffed and looked away from her. Johnny and Soda had witnessed everything from Ponyboy revealing his name to this and Johnny wasn't too happy with the way Ponyboy was treating her, neither was Soda for that matter.

He walked out from the kitchen and pushed Pony off to the side while Johnny went to Alice. "Come on now Pony, that's no way to treat a girl." Soda said disdainfully. "She was makin' fun of my name Soda, you know I can't stand that." He said, irritation clear in his features. "That's no excuse, besides you don't know what she was going to say." Soda defended. Ponyboy's eyes widened in realization.

"You were eavesdropping!" Pony exclaimed as he pushed Soda away from him. Soda put him in a playful headlock and Ponyboy tripped him and they both tumbled to the ground. Johnny and Alice were having a conversation of their own while this was going on. "Why'd you do that?" He asked with his brow furrowed. "I wanted to tell him I liked it, I really did but I just couldn't." She admitted shamefully.

"So you still got a thing for him?" He asked quietly. Alice blushed a little and was hesitant to answer him, but she nodded and looked at him nervously. Alice had actually met Ponyboy once before all of this. About a year and a half ago, she was at the local library and she had gotten lost in the Fiction section and Ponyboy just happened to be looking at a book in the same section so she gathered all the courage she had and asked him for help but instead he walked her out on his way to check out a book and after that he did so four more times and with each time he had done so she had slowly started falling for him but by the time Johnny had introduced her to the gang he had forgotten, Alice hadn't though and by the time they met again she was in love. Johnny laughed a bit and planted a small kiss on her forehead.

"It'll happen one day, just be patient." He replied softly. She smiled at him and put one right on his cheek. Johnny and Alice were like brother and sister, so it didn't matter if they kissed each other that way. It only mattered where and when. Ponyboy and Sodapop were too busy rough housing to notice so they decided to wait it out until they had finished.

Just as Pony had gotten back up Soda tackled him and they fell to the floor again and started to roll all over the ground. Alice became a little nervous so she hid behind Johnny and peeked out from behind his shoulder. Sodapop still had him in a headlock, Pony was struggling to free himself from it but was unsuccessful. The brawl finally ended when Darry decided to intervene and pulled the two off of each other. "You two need to grow up I swear." Ponyboy got a pouty look on his face and Soda leaned on Darry's shoulder with one arm.

"Come on Darry, lighten up we were just foolin'." Darry rolled his eyes. Alice had moved back next to Johnny with her hands in front of her, fingers interlocked. "So what'd Dally say?" Ponyboy asked. "He'll be here soon but he wanted us to meet him at the park." After Soda said this everyone was quiet. Everyone knew what had happened at the park the last time two of their own went there at this time of night. "I don't know if that's a good idea." Ponyboy said.

Johnny was white with fear and sickness, he would always carry the weight of a murder on his shoulders no matter how much time passed. Alice took hold of his hand and tried to comfort him. He turned his head slightly toward her to acknowledge the touch. "You'd better go with them." Darry said. Soda nodded.

Alice quietly, and boldly, made her way to the door and was the first to walk out. Darry smirked as the boys looked at each other dumbfounded and shuffled out the door quickly to catch up. Johnny was the first to reach her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, she gasped and wheeled around. She was relieved when she saw it was Johnny.

"Glory Johnny Cade you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Johnny laughed ever so softly and slid an arm around her. His hand gently gripped onto her upper arm and it pulled her closer to him. "You don't have to worry when I'm around, I'll always protect you." He said looking at her with a timid smile as he kissed her cheek. Alice could feel her ears getting hotter as they continued to stare into each others eyes, it was the first time she ever saw Johnny as more than just a brother. As they walked down the street Alice could still feel the warmth on her ears when she touched them so she hastily put her hands by her sides.

Johnny looked down at Alice, her cheeks were only slightly stained with pink and she had a nervous look on her face, he felt the same way. When he kissed her it felt different then all the other times. Johnny actually began to contemplate his feelings for Alice. Ponyboy and Sodapop were trailing not very far behind. Ponyboy watched Alice and Johnny walk down the street side by side, Alice still in his arm. It made him feel a bit lousy, but he also wondered why.

Sodapop was very well aware of why, Ponyboy explained it to him and Sodapop had one thing to say. "You like her." He stated openly. Ponyboy's ears became hot and his eyes widened. "No way, I could never like a girl who laughed at my own name." He said stubbornly. Soda rolled his eyes. "You should be use to it by now besides it's so obvious she likes you." He said.

"H-How do you know?" Pony stammered nervously. Sodapop laughed. "Big brothers gotta know this stuff." He said grinning. Ponyboy jammed his fists in his pockets and pouted a bit. They reached the park but Dally wasn't there, he was probably a little late.

"Well as long as we're here…..your it!" Soda shouted playfully as he pushed Ponyboy. Johnny grabbed Alice's hand and they ran for cover. "I'm too old for these shenanigans." He mumbled before chasing after Soda. It was kinda nice though, to let out the little kid in himself every now and again. Ponyboy began running after Soda first. He almost had him but he slipped away right before he could tag him.

Alice and Johnny we're standing at the top of the slide while Sodapop was on the merry-go-round with that same reckless grin on his face. Alice slid down the slide and headed for a tree. Ponyboy chased her all the way to it shouting "I'm gonna get ya!" playfully. As soon as she reached the base of the tree, she jumped to the nearest branch and started climbing. When she found a sturdy branch she sat on it waiting to see what Ponyboy would do.

"Damn." He muttered. Alice smiled at him and flashed him a peace sign. Ponyboy couldn't help but smile back. He tried to reach the branch but when he got a grip, it broke and he fell to the ground hard. Ponyboy groaned a bit out of pain and tried to pick himself up.

Alice leapt to the ground as leaves fell all around her. She quickly rushed to Ponyboy's side. "Ponyboy are you alright?" She asked worriedly as she helped him up by the arm. He nodded and brushed himself off. "Hey you called me Ponyboy." He said with slight surprise. Alice started fiddling around with her hair as she stared at the ground in front of her.

"I hope I'm allowed to, I didn't wanna call you Curtis anymore now that I know your real name. Is that alright?" She asked nervously. "Sure it is, besides it sounds nice when you say it." He said, smiling. Alice's eyes widened a fraction and she felt her blush deepen. Johnny and Soda rushed to the scene and Soda put his arm around Ponyboy's shoulders. "You ok little brother?" Pony nodded once again.

Alice noticed that he had a small cut down his arm. Soda released him and stood next to Ponyboy with a relieved look on his face, Johnny too. No one but her seemed to notice that he was bleeding. "Um…Ponyboy?" She said, trying to catch his attention. All eyes were on her, especially Ponyboy's who's gaze looked confused. "You're bleeding, on your arm." She pointed, slightly quieter then before.

Ponyboy looked at his arm and saw that it was slightly scraped. "Aw man." He mumbled. Alice pulled a white piece of cloth out of her pocket. "Here." She offered as she handed him the cloth. He took it and wrapped it around his arm and tied it down.

"Thanks." He said, slightly flushed. She nodded. "Hey!" A voice called from behind. Everyone turned to see Dally walking up the street in their direction. When he finally caught up to them Alice became a little nervous so she gave Johnny a nervous look.

"Hey Dal." Johnny greeted. "What's up Johnny." Dally replied casually. He caught sight of Alice standing next to Johnny and got a little curious. "Well well well, who's this?" He asked slyly. Alice looked up at Dally for a second then quickly looked down at the ground.

"H-Hello." She greeted shyly. He stuck an arm around Johnny and said "I like her for you." Alice turned two shades of red right after he said that. "Come on Dal, its Alice." Dally redirected his attention to the shy girl that had reddened quicker then he thought. He chuckled and patted her head. "Oh it is is it? She's cute huh Johnny?" He teased once more.

Alice blushed even more except she put a hand on the side of her face to try and hide it, it didn't work too well. Johnny laughed a bit. "So where we headed now Dal?" Johnny asked. "I don't know Johnny, you guys wanna catch a movie?" Ponyboy and Soda exchanged looks and nodded. "Ok." Johnny agreed.

"Cool, I'm gonna call the theater and see what movies are out. Is there a payphone near by?" Sodapop nodded and pointed to the street corner. Dally made his way towards the payphone. Everyone else began conversing a few moments later. "So Alice, how come we never met you before?" Soda asked curiously. She was hesitant to answer his question but she eventually got over it and replied "Johnny thought it would be safer for me if I didn't get mixed up with the gang quite yet."

All eyes were directed at Johnny now. He looked around at the confused stares he was receiving and sighed. "You know it's true." Pony and Soda knew he was right especially considering what happened last year. "So what made you wanna join the gang now if you heard what happened?" Ponyboy asked her. Alice didn't really know how to answer that question so she just said the first thing that came to mind.

"I guess,…I didn't want to be alone anymore." She answered softly. Everyone was confused. "What do you mean alone?" Johnny asked. "Well, I know you'd always come to see me Johnny and I'm grateful but when you're not there I'm all alone… in that old house, and since I have no reason to leave its like being in the dark all the time. Blind to everything that happens outside. So its nice to be a part of this. I don't feel so alone anymore." She answered with a smile. Johnny hadn't realized she felt this way it actually came as a shock to him and knowing she felt like that made him feel a little guilty.

"Whoa." Sodapop blurted out in astonishment. Alice laughed ever so softly and redirected her attention to Johnny who by now was in a deep depression. Ponyboy could sense the tension and began to push Sodapop away from the scene. "Hey what gives Pony?" Sodapop complained. "Come on man look at Johnny they need to talk about this." He pointed out.

Soda looked at Johnny, he could tell Ponyboy was right and decided to listen to him and started walking. "Johnny are you alright?" Alice asked timidly. "Alice I didn't mean to make you feel that way, if you had told me I would have introduced you to the gang a long time ago." He said apologetically. "It's ok Johnny really, I don't mind. I'm just glad I'm getting to know them now there all such wonderful people." She replied with a smile. Johnny couldn't help but smile back when he saw her face.

Ponyboy and the others could only watch, from the distance they were at they couldn't hear anything. "What's going on?" Dally asked impatiently. "Johnny and Alice are talking about personal stuff." Ponyboy mentioned never once taking his eyes off the pair. Dally looked at Soda with dirty eyes and a smirk. They began cracking up when Sodapop figured out what he meant by it.

It didn't take Ponyboy long to put two and two together and he made a disgusted face at them both. "You guys are sick!" He complained. Dally and Soda kept laughing at his immaturity. After they had calmed down a bit Soda began to explain what they were really talking about. "But seriously Dal, they're talking about some deep stuff." Dally became a bit confused.

When it came to emotional things or stuff like that Dally was not the guy you should talk to about it. It wasn't really something he cared too much about. "What kind of deep stuff." He asked. "She told us that before she joined the gang she always felt alone and always in the dark 'cause she never left that old house she lives in. She says that she always felt like she was blind to everything that happened outside that house." Dally didn't say anything after that. He was pondering what he had heard and didn't say a word.

By now Johnny and Alice had finished talking and started walking toward the group. "Hey guys, so what's the plan Dally?" Johnny asked. Dally shook off his thinking state and replied. "Oh its just a bunch of stupid beach movies I'm not in the mood for that shit right now." He stated openly. Alice laughed a bit and looked at Ponyboy who frowned slightly at his cursing.

"So then what should we do now?" Ponyboy asked. Everyone was silent and then an idea popped into Dally's mind. "Why don't we all head on over to Alice's place?" He asked. Everyone looked at Alice as if they were asking permission with their eyes. "I don't mind." She said timorously.

"Yes!" They cheered. Johnny and Alice laughed. "Can we go get Darry first?" Ponyboy asked. Ever since last year, Pony and Darry have been trying to get closer to each other and get along for Soda so it was obvious he'd ask for this. Everybody nodded.

"And Two-bit." Alice added quietly. Johnny nodded and they started walking. Pony sighed a bit as they started their hunt for Two-bit. An hour had gone by and they still hadn't found Two-bit yet and Ponyboy just about lost his patience. Finally Dally and Johnny had to stop for a smoke, it was just what Ponyboy needed so they all sat there on the curb and lighted up.

"We're never gonna find him." Ponyboy mumbled. Alice looked at the ground with guilt for leading them on this endless search and still no results after so long. "Sorry, everyone. I didn't mean to waste your time." She admitted with a sad tone in her soft voice. Dally patted her head as he puffed out smoke. "It ain't your fault kid, besides Two-bit's probably boozed up somewhere." Alice didn't like the fact that Two-bit drank too much, it gave him a bad rap and when people said things like that it made her feel some what offended and she couldn't stand it.

"He doesn't drink that much." She said defensively. Dally looked down at her and smirked. He messed up her hair just like he did with Johnny. "Whatever you say." He said as he looked down at her face. Alice looked at him with confused wide eyes.

Dally usually always argued a little more to make his point but the debate had never been this short it was so strange. Johnny looked at Dallas then Alice. He was confused. Dally was Johnny's hero, he practically worshiped the ground Dally walked on so he knew him pretty well and this had never happened before. It was quiet for a moment then they heard distant footsteps far off. Ponyboy looked into the dark and saw a figure stumbling towards them.

"Who's that?" Soda asked squinting to see who it was. The figure had started walking straight when it got closer, by then they knew who it was. "Well look at that." Ponyboy said. Johnny only smirked and Alice smiled brightly. It was good ol' Two-bit striding there way ever so tuffly.

"Gentlemen." He greeted comically. He bowed to Alice. "Milady." She giggled and said "Hey Two-bit." Sodapop took a drag on his cigarette and said "Hey Two-bit want a light?" Two-bit nodded and took the cigarette. Soda moved the box towards Alice but she declined.

She'd have one every now and then but not very often. Two-bit rubbed her head softly. "That's good, bein' clean like that. It's good a way to be, I'm proud of you kid." He said wholeheartedly. Alice smiled, she liked it when Two-bit praised her like that. He was kind of like her older brother besides Johnny, he looked out for her and when Johnny wasn't with her which would be most of the time.

"Thank God you found us, we've been huntin' you for about an hour 'cause of this kid." Sodapop said relieved as he pointed at Alice. Two-bit grinned that crazy grin he did when he was amused by something. "Y'all did that for little ol' me?" He said still grinning. Soda laughed while Dally elbowed him playfully. "Well now we should go get Darry." Ponyboy said.

"Speakin' of super-man I'm surprised he's not workin' tonight." Two-bit said as he took a drag on his cigarette. "We convinced him to take a break today." Soda explained. Dally stood up and threw his cigarette into an open sewer passage near the sidewalk. "Let's get goin' then." He ordered and started walking. Johnny tossed his onto the street and followed.

Alice waited for Two-bit to put his out on the pavement. They all walked down the dimly lit street corner when all of a sudden a car horn blared behind them and head lights lit up. They turned to see a red Corvair had been waiting for them to get out onto the open street.


	2. Danger in the Night

**_Disclaimer:_ **I do not own The Outsiders novel or movie, nor do I profit from this story. The novel is by S.E. Hinton and the movie was directed and produced by Francis Ford Copella.  
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**A/N:**** Second chapter, sorry it took so long I've been so occupied with other things and stories but here it is at last. **

Chapter 2: Danger in the Night**  
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As the car slowly eased toward them Alice could see Two-bit reaching for his switch and Johnny had already whipped his out and his hand was shaking with fear as he held it. As it slowly swerved to a stop it halted half on the street half on the sidewalk, the driver was obviously a drunk Soc. He and three buddies he had brought along with him staggered out of the car and into the streets. It was as plain as could be that all four Socs were boozed up pretty bad. One of them was tall and had reddish brown hair that curled.

He was the one who started talking. "Isn't that the grease ball that killed that Soc last year?" He slurred out as he raised a finger at Ponyboy. Ponyboy became white as a sheet and he could feel his palms starting to sweat, Soda stepped in front of him defensively. "Naw man, it was that one." a brown haired one had said as he pointed at Johnny. "What of it?" Dally growled between clenched teeth as he stepped in front of Johnny who by now was white with fear.

"We don't like it when you dirty greasers kill our friends that's what of it." the tall one said. "Hey man check out that girl over there." a blonde one said with a dirty look in his eyes as he looked at Alice. "She's a looker ain't she?" a second blond said with a sly grin. Alice hid behind Two-bit, Johnny wasn't really near her and Two-bit was her first option. One of them started whistling at her and hollered "Why don't you come over here baby you don't have to mess around with that greasy trash!" while laughing as if he were stoned.

Alice gripped onto the back of Two-bit's leather jacket as they tried to sweet talk her. "Shut your dirty mouths ya' bastards and leave her out of this!" Two-bit snarled. One of them stumbled back a bit as Two-bit hollered a few other terms at them. "You lookin' for a fight?" the first blonde asked angrily. "I am lookin' for a fight!" Two-bit shouted back as he flipped out his switch. Sodapop saw one other soc hiding in the bushes near the street corner ready to jump Ponyboy who was closest to him.

Soda bolted towards the bushes and tackled the guy to the ground. "Run Pony! Run!" He shouted. Ponyboy ran away from the bushes towards Johnny. "What are we gonna do?" Pony asked frantically. Johnny had regained his color but he still looked frightened.

"Take Alice out of here and go get Darry, we can hold 'em off till you get back just hurry." Ponyboy nodded. He dashed behind Two-bit and grabbed Alice's hand and they ran for it. "Keep her safe Pony or I'll skin you alive!" Two-bit yelled before getting socked in the head. The fight had already begun and they weren't even that far from it. "Where are we going?" Alice managed to ask as Ponyboy dragged her down the street.

"My house, Two-bit and Johnny want me to keep you outta trouble." He answered as he raced through the night with her. Ponyboy was the fastest kid on his track team so he could probably get her there quick but the only problem he faced was her keeping up. They eventually slowed down but Alice kept sprinting so she wouldn't have to make him stop. Ponyboy noticed she was running out of breath so he slowed down a bit but when he slowed down she sped up and soon she was leading him. If Johnny wanted her out of trouble then she'd listen and run as fast as she could.

Ponyboy could see she was determined to follow her orders because no matter how out of breath and tired she looked she never slowed down. They only had one more street corner to go but fate didn't help them out much because around that corner were two socs and they had a mighty suspicion of who they were waiting for. They were two lanky guys, both with dark brown hair. As soon as the socs caught sight of them they bolted after the two whooping and yelling. "Slow down greaser!" One of them yelled nefariously.

Alice tripped over a dent in the road and skid across the surface. She let out a small yelp as she hit the ground. She sat up from the ground and saw she had ripped a hole through her jeans and scraped her knee. "Are you alright?" Ponyboy asked consentingly. She winced as she stood up but none the less she took hold of Ponyboy's hand and started to sprint down the street like before.

Blood was running down her leg and it looked awful sore but she wouldn't stop running, their delay had allowed the socs to catch up with them and they weren't very far behind them now. "We should stop somewhere you're hurt!" Ponyboy shouted over the wind that was whipping against them as they ran. "It wouldn't help if those socs got hold of us and I'm not saying your not strong but I don't want them to beat you up!" she shouted back. He could hear the fear in her tone and her voice shook as she spoke. Ponyboy didn't understand why she had thought that but he knew if those socs did get hold of him they wouldn't just beat him up they'd do terrible things to her.

She was afraid and she had perfectly good reason to be, socs weren't exactly nice to girls who hung around with greasers. After what seemed like forever they finally reached Ponyboy's street. As they were nearing his house Ponyboy could see Darry out on the front porch reading the paper. "Darry!" He shouted as if his life depended on it. "Darry! Help!" He hollered again.

Darry looked up to see the socs chasing them down the street and you better believe he was hacked off about it. Darry dropped the paper and went full speed in their direction. Alice couldn't take anymore. Her knee gave out on her and she fell to the ground. Ponyboy looked around for something to defend himself with as the socs neared them. He found a busted pop bottle on the ground and quickly made a dive for it but it was too late.

The socs had caught up with them and one of them tackled Ponyboy to the ground before he grabbed the bottle. Ponyboy fought wildly to free himself as he saw the second soc making his way toward Alice. "Alice run!" He shouted before getting slugged in the mouth. "Shut your trap greaser, she's all ours now." He said as a devious smirk came onto his face. "The hell she is!" Ponyboy shouted and punched back.

Alice was scared stiff, there wasn't much you could do when you can't even get up. The soc who was circling her was about to make his move when Darry came in. He slugged the guy so hard he flew backward. Tears had welled up in her eyes as the soc was about to move in and when Darry came in she was on the brink of crying. Darry knelt down next to Alice to look at her knee. "Are you alright?" He asked.

She didn't say anything, instead she did something no girl had done to Darry in a long time. She hugged him tightly and cried into his shoulder. "Thank you." she gasped out between sobs. Darry was in shock at first but he realized that the idea of what that soc was going to do to her had scared her something fierce and he had saved her from it. He slowly put his arms around her until he was actually hugging her.

The embrace didn't last long because the other soc was starting to get the better of Ponyboy and his associate that Darry had punched in the face was assisting him in doing so. Darry let go of Alice and stood up to help Ponyboy. Darry had ripped one of them off Pony and punched him down but the other one was still goin' at it, but when he saw his buddy needed help he crept up behind Darry leaving Ponyboy a half dead lump on the ground. Ponyboy tried to sit up but he couldn't find the strength to and you couldn't blame him, he was pretty beat up. Alice knew she had to do something.

She saw the pop bottle and limped toward it. She picked it up and threw it at the soc and it hit him dead in the back and he yelped in pain. Darry turned around, punched him square in the stomach, and sent him wheeling towards the ground. The two socs beat it out of there as soon as the other one got up. Alice knelt down to help Ponyboy.

She held his head up in her arm and got him to sit up by pulling his torso up with her other arm. "Pony are you alright?" she asked, her voice breaking. He groaned a bit but he nodded. The socs had left him a bruise on his cheek and a couple on his arms and chest. He had a cut on the side of his forehead that was still bleeding.

Darry had chased the socs out of their street and he was loping back toward them. Ponyboy managed to stand up before he got there. Alice was still bleeding on her knee, the skid took off a lot of skin. Darry took one look at her knee and offered to carry her back to their home. She accepted, she felt like she could trust Darry now and she kind of admired his strength and valiance.

Ponyboy opened the door as Darry carried Alice into the house. He set her down on the couch and went to get the first aid kit. "So what do you think of Darry?" Ponyboy asked. "He's very kind, he seems like a protective type of person." She said, keeping her hands over her knee. "You know you shouldn't do that, it'll just infect it." Ponyboy said.

"I guess so but I don't wanna get blood on the floor, what if someone thinks you murdered somebody?" She said with a grin that reminded him of Two-bit. Ponyboy laughed. "Thanks." He said. "No problem." She replied. Darry came back into the room with bandages and antibiotic spray.

Alice rolled up her jeans' leg sleeve so Darry could apply the bandages and spray. She winced a bit as he sprayed the cut, but he carefully wrapped the bandages around it. She noticed that she had blood all over her hands as Darry was finishing up. After she was all done Darry moved onto Ponyboy. When they both had been tended too medically Darry headed for the porch again but before he got out the door Ponyboy said "Darry," He turned around.

"Yeah Pony?" He asked. Ponyboy looked at Alice then back at him. "Thanks a lot, for helping us." Darry smiled and said "Your welcome." then walked outside and shut the door behind him. Alice got up and walked to the kitchen to wash off the blood once she did so it became pretty quiet. Ponyboy looked over at Alice and noticed she was worried about something, he figured it was the rest of the gang they had left especially Johnny.

Ponyboy knew her and Johnny were real close and sometimes it made him a bit jealous but he understood perfectly why they would be so close to each other in the first place. She was fidgeting with her fingers. It was obvious its all she was thinking about, he wondered if she even remembered he was there. Ponyboy couldn't stand the silence no more. "Hey Alice." She looked up at him.

"Yes?" She replied softly. When she talked like that Ponyboy got a little nervous. "Its gonna be alright, Johnny may be a bit jumpy but he can fight real well." Alice smiled relieving. "Thanks Ponyboy, you sure know how to make a person feel better." She said in that same soft, gentle tone. Ponyboy could feel his ears become hot so he tried to distract himself.

"Y-you wanna got outside and wait for the gang?" He stammered. Alice laughed slightly and nodded. They walked out the door and into the front yard and sat in the grass. Alice laid on her back and stared at the night sky. Ponyboy did too, he liked the fine details of a night sky just like he dug the details of a good sunset.

Alice sat up and pulled her knees to her chest as she stared down at her raggedy high-tops timorously. "H-hey Ponyboy." She said. He sat up and looked at her curiously. "Yeah?" He saw her shuffle her feet in an anxious manner and he raised a brow at her. "When I laughed at you, well I wasn't really laughin' at you, It's just, well I thought," She stopped.

Ponyboy couldn't help the small scowl that started to slip onto his face. "You're name, it's not something you'd hear everyday so people probably say mean things about it, maybe that's why you were mad at me but," She stopped again. He groaned and turned her towards him. "Spit it out already!" He said, his voice slightly raised. He was tired of her stalling, he had a pretty good idea of what she was gonna say.

When he saw her expression he lightened up a bit, but only a bit. He let go of her and looked off the side for a moment before he looked at her again with irritation in his features. And then she said it in the smallest voice, he almost didn't here her. "I like it." His eyes widened a fraction and he blinked. "W-what did you say?" He asked dumbfounded.

"It's a good name. It's different. It's not normal. It's fresh and….." She paused and swallowed lightly. "I like it." She finished as she looked him in the face. Ponyboy felt his ears burn as he turned to the side and scratched his head. He let out a sigh as he turned back to her. "No one's ever said that before." He suddenly felt warm in the comfort that maybe there are some kind, understanding people out there that won't ridicule him for his own birth-given name.

As they sat there they heard various foot steps approaching. Alice stood up immediately and peered into the dark to see who it was. It was the gang. Dally, Soda, Two-bit, and Johnny were walking toward the house. Two-bit had an arm around Dally, he was pretty rugged from the looks of it he enjoyed the fight the most because he was smiling that crazy grin like always.

Alice ran up to them but she stopped before she could reach them because her cut had opened up from moving it so suddenly. She slouched to the ground and put her hands onto her knee. Soda reached her first. "What's the matter?" He asked concerned. Alice moved her hands and showed Soda the bandages.

His eyes smoldered now. "What happened?" He asked in a serious tone, by now the rest of them had caught up with Soda. "When we were running, two socs were hiding around the corner waiting for us and they started chasing us. I fell while we were running." Alice explained. Two-bits eyes were flaring and he shot a glare at Ponyboy. "I thought I told you to make sure she didn't get hurt!" He roared.

"I didn't mean for her to trip Two-bit!" he tried to explain. Two-bit was about to fire off again but Alice interrupted. "It wasn't his fault, besides when you're running for dear life you don't pay attention to every dent in the road." Two-bit cooled down a bit, she had a point. How could Pony have known she would trip over a spot in the road. "Sorry Ponyboy." He apologized.

"It's alright." Ponyboy said. They all looked liked the fight had dragged on for quite a while. Two-bit had a busted lip and it had bled down his chin and a cut on his arm. Dally had a cut that ran down his left cheek and bloody knuckles. Sodapop had been hit pretty hard in the ribs and had a few other cuts and bruises like the rest of them.

Johnny had been kicked in the ribs twice and had a black eye, he also got his shoulder kicked in, not literally. "Are you all alright?" Alice asked with mild concern in her voice. They looked at each other and laughed a bit. "I feel quite giddy as a matter of fact." Two-bit said, still grinning. She smiled, atleast she knew Two-bit was ok.

Johnny hobbled over to Ponyboy and said "Thanks." Ponyboy was a bit confused as to why he was thanking him but when he saw Alice talking with Dally while Two-bit was cracking jokes and Sodapop going along with it as well he knew what Johnny had meant. "Anytime." Ponyboy said. "So are we still headin' down to your place or what?" Soda asked. Alice blinked at him, after all that had happened to them in the course of three hours they still wanted to go?

"Don't you guys wanna rest a bit? You all look very hurt." She asked with soft concern. "Nope." Soda and Two-bit said in unison, the both of them grinning wildly. She sighed while Dally just laughed. "Let's go then." She had began to walk but she stopped, her knee started to hurt again. Dally made a 'tisk' noise and shook his head as he let Two-bit off him and made his way towards her.

He looked at her knee and smirked. "Well I'm no doctor but I'm gonna go ahead and say that you won't be able to walk on that." Alice shrugged and said. "And what do you propose I do about it?" Dally motioned for Soda to come over. "Can you carry my associate to her home cadet Curtis?" He requested playfully. "Sir yes sir!" Sodapop played along.

"Nu-uh!" She protested. Alice had always been intimidated by Soda's good looks, and it wasn't just Soda it was all the Curtis brothers. Sometimes when her and Ponyboy were in the library she'd notice girls glaring at her with envy. Soda's grin turned into a frown. "Come on don't you trust me yet Alice?" He asked sadly. Alice suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Ok Soda, have it your way." She gave in. Sodapop had that crazy grin on his face again. He ran in front of her and got her on his back. "Which way captain?" He teased. Alice laughed a bit.

"Thatta way sailor!" She played along. He marched down the road. Everyone followed after them. "I hope we don't run into anymore socs today." Alice said worriedly as her grip on Soda's shoulders tightened a bit. "Don't worry about it, besides I'm pretty sure after the beating we just gave we won't see anymore." Two-bit said holding up his arm to show his bicep.

Ponyboy sighed while everyone else laughed. "So what's this house look like anyways?" Dally asked. Alice thought about it for moment. "Well its really old. And its kind of in a forest-" "A forest?" Everyone but Johnny and Two-bit asked astoundingly.

She nodded. "Its like one of them old rich people estate type deals, you know with a balcony and all that." She tried to describe. Dally shook his head. "Ain't no way I'm steppin' into a soc's house." Alice slumped onto Sodapop's shoulder. "Well it's been abandoned for a while now, I like it." She mumbled almost incoherently.

She wasn't exactly fond of the fact that Dally didn't approve of where she lived. She sort of looked up to him just like Johnny did and when he said that it didn't make her feel too hot. "Come on Dally how bad would it be? Besides, look what you did." Soda said. Dally saw Alice had become a little down since his comment. He jammed his fists in his pockets.

"Alright I'll go." He said. Alice looked up a bit and smiled. After walking for such a long time they finally found the forest that hid Alice's home. All they needed to do was rough the terrain which was no problem so it didn't take to long. As they neared the house every one but Johnny stopped and stared.

Alice looked at Soda who's face was shocked along with everyone else's. "This is where you live?" Ponyboy asked in astonishment. She nodded. "Good Glory it's huge!" Two-bit exclaimed.


	3. Of Morning Greetings and Long Walks

**_Disclaimer:_ **I do not own The Outsiders novel or movie, nor do I profit from this story. The novel is by S.E. Hinton and the movie was directed and produced by Francis Ford Copella.  
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**A/N:**** Sorry again! I've been SO busy this month it's not even funny . I had 3 days of EXP Con, A band competition plus the football games we have to play at as well as the practices and on top of that I have a pirate gathering I have to be at and two parties this weekend...dear God I need a break =x=' Anyways, enough about that here's the third chapter. Enjoy! ^^  
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Chapter Three: Of Morning Greetings and Long Walks**  
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"This is where you live?" Ponyboy asked in astonishment. She nodded. "Good Glory it's huge!" Two-bit exclaimed. Alice giggled. Dally shrugged. "I've seen worse in movies." He said.

Alice brightened up a bit at she assumed to be somewhat of Dally's approval. Soda was still staring at it with his mouth wide open. "Sodapop?" She asked softly. "How would you not get lost just goin' to the bathroom?" He blurted out. She laughed a bit harder then she ever had before.

They went inside and Soda left Alice with Johnny at the door so the rest of them could explore. Alice's house was a two story house with a grand stairwell and eight rooms not including the three bathrooms. It had a huge balcony on the second floor in the master bedroom. Curtains from the previous owners were still up, they were made of silk and lined with lace. She put almost all the rooms to use.

The floors outside her room were lined with wooden boards and in the bathrooms and kitchen was tiled. The walls were all a light yellow and the ceilings white. There was obviously no furniture since the people had moved out of the house so when they were all done exploring they sat on the wooden floor of what was once the living room. "So what do you guys think?" Alice asked. "This place is gigantic." Soda said with amazement.

"Yeah I'll say." Two-bit added. "You got anything to eat around here?" Dally asked. Ponyboy was astounded by his behavior, he thought it was obvious to everyone she didn't have too much here. Then again he knew she didn't starve herself either so its possible. "There's some cokes and and some bread in the kitchen, help yourself." Alice said with a smile.

"Thanks." Dally said. "Hey what time is it?" Johnny asked. Soda reached into his pocket for an old pocket watch he carried with him. He flipped it open and read the time with wide eyes. "Glory! It's a quarter past one in the morning!" He exclaimed.

Ponyboy's eyes widened a bit. "Oh man, what's Darry gonna say?" He muttered worriedly. "We gotta call him or somethin'." Sodapop said fearfully. "Soda you have such awesome hair." Alice mumbled in wonder as she gently tugged on a part of his hair. Ponyboy laughed while Soda and Two-bit just smiled. "Gee kid, you sure know how to lighten the mood bein' all random like that." Dally said with a smirk as he returned with a coke in his hand.

Alice smiled brightly. "It's a gift." She said jokingly. "I wish I could use that gift on my next geometry test." Ponyboy teased. "Me too." Johnny mumbled. "Don't feel too bad Johnny, them teachers just don't realize what a genius you are." Dally said as he ruffled his hair. Johnny's eyes lit up, he liked it when Dally praised him like that.

"I wish I could actually go to school," Alice muttered. "It sounds like so much fun." Ponyboy's and Johnny's jaws dropped. "Are you serious?" Pony asked, surprised. "Mhmm." She said with a smile. Two-bit laughed.

"It's a riot. You'd love it." He said with his same wild grin. "That's only 'cause you hack off all the teachers by wisin' off to 'em." Dally said. "And your point is?" He retorted. Dally rolled his eyes. "Maybe you could start school with Pony and Johnny next semester, its only about a week until then." Soda mentioned.

Ponyboy perked up a bit. "Really?" Alice asked beaming. "Sure, ain't our school one of those school's where you can go for free?" Ponyboy asked. "Yeah but you need parental consent." Two-bit pointed out. Alice's mood dampened a bit.

"It's ok, I don't have to go to school." Soda was a drop-out so he knew that when you can't go to school you can't really do much else but work and goof off and with the shortage of jobs and the fact that she can't be without the gang for a second or she's liable to get jumped all she could do was stay at home which he was pretty sure she didn't want to. "Why don't we get Darry to explain her situation and sign her up?" Soda asked. Everyone thought for a moment.

In this time and age people wanted children to go to school, and with all that 'the children are our future' stuff just further helped her point. "Do you think Darry would do that for me?" Alice asked, hope twinkling in her eyes. "If I asked him too, maybe." Soda said with a smile. "Thank you so much Sodapop!" She cheered as she hugged him. Soda laughed and hugged her too.

"No problem." She released him and only smiled. "Well atleast school will be a bit more bearable now." Johnny said with a sheepish grin. Two-bit cocked an eyebrow and grinned wildly. "Is that so?" He asked humorously as he nudged Johnny with his elbow. Johnny flushed a bit.

Dally smirked and Sodapop laughed while Alice and Ponyboy sat there confused. "Oh! I just remembered something." Alice said as she stood up. She walked over to the staircase and started up the stairs. The rest of the gang sat there confused for a moment then followed after her. She stood in a hallway in front of a white oak door.

"I forgot to show you guys my room." She opened the door and lead them inside. Her room was the master bedroom and the one with the balcony. It had carpeting and a pillow that was left behind from the previous owners so it wasn't so bad for her to sleep on the floor. The walls were painted a light shade of purple and the ceiling just a plain white. The closet wasn't too big but it wasn't to small either and since she didn't have many clothes and only one pair of shoes so it wasn't a problem for her what size it was.

In one corner of the room was where most of her things were located. There was a pile of records and some books stacked neatly next to each other. There was also some pencils and a couple of notebooks and a switchblade to sharpen the pencil. Dark red candles were placed all over the room and a lighter laid next to one of them. In the part of the room where she slept was a radio and a record player with two records laying next to it.

A psychedelic Beatles logo she had made her self was painted on one side of the wall while on the other one she had painted Stray Cats in a funky kind of script that looked as if her hand was shaking when she wrote it. Write next to the window was a poster of The Temptations standing near train track while on the other side of the window another poster had The Rolling Stones on it. "Glory this room sure is tuff even if it is a girl's room." Soda said as he looked at the paintings. Alice rolled her eyes at his comment and watched as Dally placed a hand over 'S' in Stray Cats. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you really dig music." Dally said with a smirk.

Alice laughed a bit and nodded. "This place looks great." Ponyboy said in amazement. Two-bit rested an arm on Alice's shoulder and nodded. "And the upside is you don't have parents that tell you you're not allowed to do all this." He said. Alice saddened a bit, she wished she had parents that actually cared about her.

Johnny elbowed him in the side. "Hey what gives Johnnycake?" Two-bit asked. Johnny gave him a look that said that subject was off limits. Two-bit tried to change the subject. "So you painted all this by yourself?" He asked Alice.

She nodded, she didn't smile. Johnny knew it wasn't working. "I'm proud of you kid, I still can't believe you managed to do all this it really is amazing." He said in a praising manner. Alice lit up a bit. "Thanks." Two-bit moved his arm off her and rubbed her head gently.

"Your welcome." Alice smiled up at him, she was ok now. Johnny sighed, relieved. "Hey can we listen to the radio?" Soda asked. "Sure Soda." She said. He turned it on and tried to tune it to the right station. Dally and Two-bit followed Sodapop to the radio and gathered around it to listen.

"Johnny I made a new painting today would you like to see it?" Alice asked him. Johnny nodded and just as they were about to go out the door Johnny took her hand and motioned to Ponyboy who was still looking at the walls. Alice knew that Johnny wanted her to ask him to come and the mere thought of it gave her butterflies. Johnny gave her a small push in Ponyboy's direction and as she stepped forward she flushed a bit but she kept walking. She tapped Ponyboy on the shoulder and he turned around.

"Oh, hey Alice." He greeted her with a warm smile. Alice tried to control her stomach from fluttering and speak. "Would you like to come with me and Johnny, to my painting room? That is if you want to," Her nervousness was getting the best of her and Ponyboy noticed it all to well, he thought it was cute. "I mean you don't have to but-" Ponyboy interrupted and said "It's alright, I will." with a chuckle and followed her and Johnny out of the room across the hall to another. Alice opened the door and they walked in as she followed, leaving the door open so the gang could find them.

The room was a bit smaller than her room and there was no closet but the walls were painted a light blue the ceiling read 'When spoken words are easily understood but when made into images there are few who understand.' in the same font as the one in her room. This room was different from the others, it was pretty messy and you had to watch where you stepped. There were sketches, paper, paint brushes, pencils, pens, and paint containers spread out everywhere. She had placed near the wall a paint brush and a sketch pad with something on it.

Alice picked it up and brought it to Johnny with excitement on her face. Johnny looked at it with a smile. "Do you like it?" she asked eagerly. "It's real pretty Alice." He said as he eyed all the details. It was a painting of a the night sky with a full moon.

The sky was dark as stars lit up the empty darkness and the moon shined down on the wet grass and made it twinkle while it gave the trees a shadowy persona. The moon was surrounded by light, soft gray clouds. The light reflected off the moon and gave the clouds a silver lining and illuminated the space around it. The painting itself was a bit sloppy but adequate none the less. "This is beautiful." Ponyboy said, astounded.

Johnny looked at Alice who had flushed a little at Ponyboy's comment. Johnny smirked and gave the painting back to Alice who set it down near the wall. "You're a really good artist Alice." Ponyboy complimented. She reached for a piece of hair to twiddle with a bit but she controlled her self and put her hands by her side. "Thanks Ponyboy." She said with a shy smile.

Sodapop poked his head through the door. "Hey Pony, we should be headin' on home now." He said. Ponyboy frowned. "Alright Soda." He mumbled. "Bye Ponyboy." Alice said, her mood dampened.

He waved to her as he walked out the door. "I will see you tomorrow." Soda said humorously as he winked at her. She giggled and said "Bye Soda." He grinned at her and she couldn't help but grin back at him. Soon afterward everyone else left for their own reasons and only Johnny was left. "I think I'm gonna stay here tonight." He said.

"Please do," Alice pleaded. "It's way to cold for you to be sleeping in the lot anyways." concern in her voice. "Well it's pretty late I'm headin' off to bed then." He said drowsily and headed for the next room. Alice fell asleep to Here, There, Everywhere and woke up to see Johnny at the foot of her 'bed' looking at some of her records. "I'll never understand how you can like The Beatles." Johnny said as he looked at her Revolver album.

Alice sat up and slipped it out of his hands and put it back on her radio. "I like how smooth their songs go, here listen." She pushed the cd into the cd player and pressed play, It played I'm Only Sleeping. As they sat there and listened Alice moved to the music with a grin on her face. Johnny watched and couldn't help but let in to the smile that was tugging on the corners of his mouth. When it ended she ejected the record and carefully slipped it into its cover.

"I guess they have some pretty good sound but it's a little slow for me, makes me sleepy." Johnny said stretching his arms a bit. Outside Alice heard the faint sound of voices so she scrambled to her feet and headed for her balcony almost tripping on her black and red plaid pajama pants. She saw Two-bit and Steve walking toward the house. "See I knew I remembered the way here." He said triumphantly. "I'm surprised you remembered at all." Steve said. Two-bit cocked an eyebrow at him.

"It's Two-bit!" Alice squealed as she scurried out the door and down the stairs. By the time she got down stairs Two-bit and Steve were already inside. "Two-bit!" She cheered as she pounced up and threw her arms around his shoulders. Two-bit laughed as he hugged her. "Hey Allycat." He said.

Alice liked it when he called her that, it was his pet name for her. "What, don't I get a hug?" Steve asked. Alice released Two-bit and went over and hugged Steve too. "Hi Steve." she said with a grin. He rubbed her hair gently and replied.

"How's it goin' short-stuff?" He patted her head teasingly. "If I'm short then so is Ponyboy." She pouted. "He is." Two-bit said with an amused grin. "Darn it!" She whined while they laughed. "Hey guys what's goin' on?" Johnny said as he ascended down the stairs.

"Hey Johnnycake, when did you get here?" Steve asked. "I spent the night." He said. Steve smirked while Two-bit raised one eyebrow and grinned wildly. "Is that so?" He asked still grinning. Alice and Johnny thought for a minute and then they blushed madly and stared at opposite sides of the room.

"I-It's not like that Two-bit." Johnny said quietly. "Yeah, Me and Johnny are just friends." Alice added shyly. Steve and Two-bit exchanged doubtful looks and then laughed. "Whatever you say Allycat, So what do you wanna do today?" He asked. "Could you take me to see the Curtis brothers?" Alice asked her eyes beaming with question.

"Sure but its gonna be a long walk." Two-bit warned. "I don't mind it." Alice said smiling. "I do," Johnny interrupted. Everyone directed their curious gazes at him. "Why is that Johnnycake?" Steve asked.

"Let me see your knee Alice." Johnny ordered. Alice turned toward him and kneeled down to pull her pants sleeve up. Johnny carefully unwrapped the bandages off her knee, it was still red and bloody but not as much as it was last night though. "Well considering she ran down the stairs to see yours truly I think she'll be fine Johnny." Two-bit reassured him with a pat on the back. Johnny still had a bit of doubt in his expression but after a moment of thought he nodded in agreement.

"Let's be off then." Two-bit said. "And be quick about it, me and Soda got work today." Steve said as he opened the door. Everyone shuffled out the exit and once they got past the fence they started the trek through the woods back to society. Nobody seemed to have trouble with the rough terrain, although Two-bit only tripped once even then he didn't really fall he just lunged forward a bit but he caught himself. After taking a wrong turn or two due to Alice's sudden lapse in memory and Steve and Two-bit's bickering of which direction to go in the gang finally made it out into the street. "Hallelujah, we're out!" Two-bit shouted to the sky with his hands held high.

Alice laughed while Johnny sighed and Steve just rolled his eyes. "We shouldn't be too long now, I know a short cut." Two-bit said as he casually slipped an arm around Alice's shoulders and winked slyly. "Two-bit are you sure you know what you're doing?" Alice asked. "Look at it this way Allycat," Steve said appearing on the other side of her. "If he did then we'd be having some worryin' to do." Alice smiled and nodded.

"You wound me Steve." Two-bit said dramatically putting a hand to his forehead. "Really? I thought your ego would be a bit stronger then that." Steve said putting his arms behind his neck as if he was resting his head. Two-bit slipped off of Alice and walked next to Steve to continue their little 'battle of wits' as they walked farther until they were way up ahead but Alice and Johnny could still see them to follow.

Johnny walked into Two-bit's spot and slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Alice was use to this sort of thing by now, it comforted Johnny a bit to have a hold on Alice after all Two-bit's so called 'short cut' was through Soc territory and that made Johnny so nervous he was subconsciously pulling her closer. "Johnny are you alright?" Alice said quieter then usual. It was strange, Johnny had made contact like this with her all the time but it never made her feel like what she felt now. She shook it off.

"I'm okay, just a little nervous." Johnny replied, pressing her closer. Although she wanted to, Alice couldn't just push Johnny away it would make him feel bad and she knew this was his way of calming down. She shifted a bit so they were more spaced apart but Johnny fixed that, unintentionally of course, and pulled her in again. 'Glory this is gonna be a long walk.' Alice sighed.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked. "Oh it's nothing." Alice struggled to say keeping her sarcasm in check. "We're almost out!" Steve called out to the two. They both let out a sigh at the news, it wouldn't be much longer now. Johnny loosened his grip a bit and not a moment to soon, she couldn't help but wonder if Johnny had noticed her discomfort.

"Johnny," Alice said. He looked over at her. "Yeah?" He asked. Alice fidgeted with her fingers a bit before going on which Johnny thought was odd, she only did that when she was nervous and she was never nervous around Johnny, well that he knew of. She paused for a moment then shook her head.

Johnny shrugged and ran to catch up with Two-bit. "Get up here Allycat!" Two-bit called. Alice smiled warmly and ran up to the rest of them taking a spot next to Two-bit. He ruffled her hair and said "I can't have my first mate go missin' on this submarine." Two-bit said with a 'matter-of-fact' tone in his voice.

"Aye aye Captain Matthews." Alice mused along. They both exchanged wild grins as Steve and Johnny were completely confused at the charade that referred to a popular Beatles song, Two-bit liked them too. As they walked down the street Johnny noticed a couple of socs walk out of a house and spot the greasers in their commute towards the exit of their neighborhood. Johnny pushed Alice and Two-bit to walk faster and they did but they weren't too happy about it and neither was Steve who had to speed up from his comfortable pace to keep up with Johnny's.

"What gives Johnny?" Alice asked almost tripping over her feet. "Yeah?" Two-bit and Steve asked in unison. Johnny looked over his shoulder and saw the socs pile into a car and pushed them even harder and sped up his pace Steve quickening to keep up, irritation evident in his features. "Aw man Alice why'd your house have to be near a soc neighborhood?" Johnny asked miserably. Two-bit looked behind them in the direction Johnny was and saw a soc car pulling out of the driveway and heading towards them.

"Oh shit!" Two-bit cursed as he elbowed Steve to look behind him and when he knew that speeding car meant business he rushed into action. "Move!" Steve shouted hastily as he shoved Johnny out of the road. "What's going on?" Alice asked. Two-bit knew he didn't have time to explain so he scooped her into his arms and made a run for the sidewalk.

"Hey what gives!" Alice shouted in protest. It was then that she noticed the car rush past them honking and the kids inside shouting. "Greasy trash!" Steve threw a rock at the car and shouted "Go to hell ya high class bastards!" Alice blinked as Two-bit put her down and sighed in relief. "That was a close one." Johnny said as he slumped onto the sidewalk.

Steve pulled him up immediately. "Don't relax now we gotta keep moving." He said pushing Johnny towards the neighborhood's gates. Alice giggled and Two-bit grinned widely as they followed after the greasers. "Thanks a lot Two-bit, I owe you one." Alice said as she looked up to him with a grin. He ruffled her hair and returned her smile with his own wild grin.

"Anytime Allycat." He said. Then came an obstacle. The gate was pass code protected so you'd have to know the pin number to get in, and unfortunately, out. "Great now what do we do?" Two-bit asked. They all sat their for about a second or two before Johnny said "You know we could climb this." as he pointed towards the gate which wasn't that tall.

"Oh right." Two-bit said. Alice grinned at him and elbowed him playfully. "Nice goin' captain." She teased. "I don't need any of your lip missy." He said poking her forehead. She rolled her eyes.

One by one they all scaled the gate and dropped down on the other side. "Now we're halfway there." Steve said as he pointed to the street corner that had the street that had the Curtis's neighborhood just around the bend. "Are you kidding me? Their neighborhood is about three or four streets away." Two-bit pointed out. "No it's not it's only two!" Steve fired back. Before Alice and Johnny knew it the two were in a full fledged argument about who was right and all they could do was watch and sigh.

Johnny pulled out a cigarette and lit up then he motioned the box towards her. "You want a weed Alice?" He asked. She shook her head and took a step away from Johnny, she really couldn't stand cigarettes especially the smell. Johnny shrugged and let out a puff in the opposite direction, he knew she didn't like them but he thought it might help her out in a stressful situation like this. After a long amount of time had wasted away due to the argument Johnny had to rack his brain for a moment or two to confirm that Two-bit was right.

"Ha! In your face, lets get going." Two-bit said as Steve rolled his eyes. Alice looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was set in the middle of the sky and realized that when they had started walking it was higher up. "I think we just wasted half the day trying to get there." Alice said in bummed out mood as she kicked a rock a few feet ahead of them. She promised Soda she'd hang out with him today and she didn't like breaking her promises especially when it was the first one she had made to a new friend. "Don't worry Allycat, it's summer so the days are shorter in Tulsa. It's probably not that late." Johnny said comfortingly.

"Yeah and besides it's only 3:42." Two-bit said as he glanced at his pocket watch. Alice brightened up a bit, at least it wasn't too late. Maybe Soda wouldn't be that upset although she felt like she was forgetting a very important detail…oh well, she shook it off and kept walking. The gang had covered three of the four streets Two-bit had predicted they would have to trek to get to the Curtis house and now they were on the fourth one which led straight to it. "Finally we're almost there." Steve said in relief.

Sure they all were used to walking but the distance from Alice's house to the Curtis house was a distance neither of them had ever walked and boy was it long. When the house came into view Two-bit dropped to his knees and reached his hands to the sky. "Thank Christ we're here!" He cried out in an overly dramatic fashion. Everyone laughed because they knew he was kidding but even though they weren't gonna be that dramatic about it they were all pretty tired. "Come on Two-bit we're not there yet." Alice said pulling him to his feet.

Two-bit noticed as he was getting up that Alice's bandages had fallen off and the wound still had not healed and was beginning to drip blood. "Hey slow down kid, you're bleedin' again." Two-bit said. Alice peered down at her knee and saw the blood running down her leg and threatening to drip onto her shoes. "Aww…" She muttered as she wiped it up with her sweater sleeve, it was black so the blood stain wouldn't really show but soon after she had it slowly began to leak again. "Damn it." She cursed as she wiped it up again.

"Let's get you to the house before a vampire comes." Two-bit said teasingly as he looked around suspiciously. Alice laughed and continued walking with the rest of them. "How does your knee feel?" Johnny asked. "It's okay, it stings just a teeny bit but it's fine." She said with a reassuring smile. Johnny smiled too and took the comfort of knowing she was okay.

They had finally arrived at the gates of the Curtis home with Darry sitting on the porch to greet them. "Hey guys." He said with a half smile as he waved. They all waved back as they entered the front yard and made their way towards the house. "You've got two eager boys inside waiting for you." Darry said to Alice with a teasing smirk. Alice laughed nervously and replied with a slightly hesitant, "Oh really?"

Darry nodded and motioned towards the door and Alice held the door for the rest of the greasers too and they all went inside.

**And so ends another chapter! Sorry for the long delay, like I said; I've been really busy this month. Hope you liked it ^^**


	4. Debating Amongst Greasers

**_Disclaimer:_ **I do not own The Outsiders novel or movie, nor do I profit from this story. The novel is by S.E. Hinton and the movie was directed and produced by Francis Ford Copella.  
><strong>**

**A/N:**** Chapter Four yay! I think after this chapter I'll wrap up this story but I think I might like to write another one for this book I really do like it :) Except the character won't end up with Ponyboy again. Sorry Ponyboy fans but I do a fair system of one per person. Anyways, here's chapter four. Enjoy! ^^  
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Chapter Four: Debating Amongst Greasers**  
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As soon as she shut the door behind her Sodapop and Ponyboy peaked out from the couch and jumped up to greet her. "There she is!" Soda said playfully as he dashed towards her and swept her up into a bear hug. "It's good to see you too Soda." She said cheerfully with a wide grin on her face. Ponyboy took a gentler approach and walked up to her and said "Hi." Alice smiled at him. "Hi," She greeted with a timorous smile.

She was really happy to see them. "What are we, chopped liver?" Two-bit complained, acting like an angry house wife. The Curtis brothers laughed, a sound which Alice found to be most pleasing to her ears, and greeted their friends as well with an array of manly hugs and handshakes. "It is time…..for the grand tour." Soda said dramatically. Darry sighed and chuckled at his little brother.

"Right this way folks, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times and please refrain from breaking things. Ponyboy." Soda said teasingly as he elbowed his baby brother. "Aw, you've caught me." Pony said sarcastically and elbowed him back. Soda led the gang two steps forward and then stopped. "This is the living room, a room in which we live." He teased, everyone laughed except Darry who only shook his head and smiled. "Moving on, hey no flash photography Steve." Soda said as he swatted a confused Steve's shoulder.

Alice giggled at the charade, Soda was almost as funny as Two-bit. "Here we see the bathroom, try not to get too excited." Soda said as he motioned towards the bathroom as he opened it, once everyone had spared it a glance he shut the door and then walked towards a hallway and opened the door to another room that looked like a bedroom. "This is Ponyboy's old room before he started sleeping in mine, home wrecker." Soda said jokingly as he ruffled Ponyboy's hair. "Yeah legend has it that this was the room Soda lost his left shoe from an old pair of sneakers." Ponyboy teased back. "I could have found it if you didn't clean the dang thing so much." Soda pouted.

This earned a laugh from the group even Darryl who couldn't help but do so at the sight of Soda acting like a five year old. "Okay, next up is Darry's room which-" Darry stepped in front of his door and shook his head. "Not happening little man." He said sternly. Sodapop stuck his tongue out and continued the tour.'What is he hiding?' Alice thought suspiciously as she looked at Darry.

He caught her gaze and she flushed immediately and quickly looked forward. He smirked and looked ahead as well. "This is mine and Pony's room." Soda said as he opened the door. The room was kind of small but it looked like enough for the two of them. There was a single bed and a desk and chair sitting in the corner near a window along with a dresser in the corner next to it.

"Nothing fancy but it digs okay, huh Ponyboy?" Soda asked, Ponyboy nodded in agreement. Once everyone shuffled out of that room the tour was concluded and everyone headed towards the living room. The couch only fit four but they all managed to squeeze in. They were in the middle of an entertaining conversation as to why Alice and Two-bit shouldn't like the Beatles and how Elvis was way beyond comparison when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Darry said as he sat up from the armchair.

"You know they could never out do him." Soda said in an 'it's so obvious' tone. Alice rolled her eyes. "I like 'em both, is that better?" She said. "Which one do you like more?" Steve pressed on. Alice let out a groan and Two-bit sighed.

"I know I like The Beatles way more then Elvis, but I'm not sayin' he's terrible compared to them," Steve, Pony, and Johnny nodded in satisfaction. "Even though they are way more popular right now." Alice slipped in casually looking at the sealing as if she hadn't said anything. "Yeah what she said." Two-bit added peering over at the piano. The remainder of the gang groaned at their obvious decision. "What do you see in them?" Soda asked Alice as he dropped to his knees in front of her in a dramatic fashion.

Alice sighed heavily, she knew her and Two-bit weren't going to get off so easy with this. While on the ground Soda noticed Alice's knee was dripping down to her leg and stained her sock with blood. "Alice how long have you been like this?" He asked worriedly as he tapped her knee. Alice cursed inwardly, she had forgotten all about bandaging up her wound. "Wait here I'll get the bandages." Soda said as he stood up to go to the kitchen.

"You really need to take better care of yourself." Ponyboy said as he wiped the blood up with his jacket sleeve. Alice blushed at the sudden contact but she didn't have time to calm down before Ponyboy caught a glimpse of her heated face and he immediately took his hand off of her which made her blush even deeper. He stood up abruptly and made his way towards the other side of Johnny and leaned against the couch arm, he was blushing too. "You alright Ponyboy?" Steve asked. Ponyboy tensed up a bit, he was caught in a tight spot if he turned around he would be revealed and questioned by Steve and Alice knew if he got caught then it wouldn't take too long to put two and two together and reveal her as well and the very thought of it made her nervous.

Johnny knew what was up so he lent a hand and decided to cover for him. "Oh yeah, Pony just doesn't like blood that's all." Johnny said convincingly. Steve shrugged and turned on the TV to watch whatever was on. Alice and Pony let out simultaneous breaths of relief and silently thanked Johnny for intervening. Once they had calmed down Pony decided it would be safe to turn back around so he did and he sat on the floor and leaned against the arm Johnny was sitting on.

"Thanks Johnny, you're a life saver." Alice whispered followed by a small and swift kiss on his cheek. Johnny felt his stomach tingle only slightly before he said "No problem." They both smiled at each other and looked at the TV and watched along with Steve. Unfortunately for them Ponyboy saw the whole thing and he felt his heart sink to rock bottom.

He didn't know whether he should question them now or later or if he should be mad at Johnny for moving in on his girl and-wait a second. Ponyboy shook his head. 'Did I really just think that?' Ponyboy asked himself astonishingly. 'We're not going out, we're just friends. Why should I be jealous if she…..kisses him.' He had to force out the last part. After his talk with Soda he had thought a lot about how he felt about Alice and at first he thought he liked her but he convinced himself that it would pass and that she only blushed at him because she was shy and had never met him before so she obviously wasn't interested…...right?

Right. Soda returned with the bandages and started wrapping them around her wound until they were tied tightly around it. "Thanks Soda." She said shyly and smiled, Alice wasn't use to this much contact with people she didn't know very well. Two-bit was an exception because she had known him for a long time and Johnny had known her longer then anyone of them so he was the other exception. Soda nodded and smiled at her graciously as he stood up to put the roll of bandages back in the first aid kit.

The door opened and closed and everyone turned around at the noise to see Darry conversing at the door with Dally. Johnny's eyes beamed as Dally walked toward the couch to join them. "Hey Johnnycake." He greeted Johnny casually as he ruffled his hands through the younger boys hair. "Hey Dally." Johnny said grinning widely. Dallas looked around to see who was here and it looks like everyone was.

"What've you bums been up to?" He asked teasingly. "Us bums," Two-bit said pointing at him and Alice. "Hi." She said brightly as if she hadn't just been insulted, she knew they were kidding so it didn't matter. "Are arguing with those bums," He pointed to everyone else in the room. "About how we think that Beatles are better then Elvis." he finished.

Dallas rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Which is pointless by the way because they're both really cool." Alice added. Johnny nodded, he had to admit after listening to their many albums with her the Beatles were starting to grow on him. "I'm only involved in this argument because by insulting them you have awakened the defensive Beatle fan girl that dwells deep within the caves of my kidney." Alice said shooting a fake competitive glare at Soda, and he played along by giving her one as well while everyone laughed at her last odd statement. "You're pretty strange kid, but you dig okay." Dally said with an approving smirk.

Alice smiled and put up a peace sign. "Admit it Alice, they're has-beens compared to Elvis." Steve said. Alice stood up abruptly and turned towards him and shouted "Blasphemy!" as she pointed a finger in a dramatic fashion. "Chill out Allycat," Dally said coolly, Alice obeyed him and sat back down. "I think I might be able to end this little argument." Dally said.

Everyone directed their attention to the hood and awaited his reprieve. "If it wasn't for Elvis, the Beatles wouldn't even exist," Alice and Two-bit were about to fire back at him but he quickly held up a hand to them and said "And I know because I was watching an interview on TV and the lead singer guy who started the band," "John Lennon." Two-bit and Alice corrected in unison. Johnny sighed while Soda, Steve, and Pony shook their heads in disapproval at the mere mentioning of the Beatle while Darry just rolled his eyes at the whole scene that was playing out right before him. "Yeah him, he said if he hadn't heard Elvis's unique sound on the radio he never would have been inspired to start the band." Dally finished.

Two-bit and Alice marveled the very fact and looked at each other in astonishment. "Thank god for making Elvis." Two-bit said to her. "Mhmm." She agreed. "Ha! We told you not to doubt the power of Elvis." Soda said victoriously while Steve and Ponyboy slapped five and Johnny just shook his head. "I don't know why you guys were arguing they're both great I mean look at how crazy the whole world is goin' for the both of them." Johnny said.

It was silent for a moment. "I think so too." Alice said in agreement. "Yeah Johnnycake has a point." Two-bit said. "I guess so." Ponyboy said. Soda and Steve weren't convinced but Dally was.

"Look at it logically guys, look at all the screaming girls who go to their concerts or paraded around in the streets when they came to Tulsa." Alice said. Sodapop and Steve thought for a moment and before they knew it, they were sold. "I guess you got a point Allycat, but I still wanna give 'em a listen. I wanna see why ya think they're so darn great." He said ruffling her hair. Alice playfully swatted his hand away and smiled widely. "I'd like that." She said.

For the remainder of the night they all sat in a huddled group spread out across the living room talking about the ups and downs of Elvis and the many flaws the Beatles had but in the end they couldn't help but love them and their musical contribution, not to mention how their fan riots and daily influence spiced up dull days in their lives. Two-bit mentioned how it must be easy for them to get wasted. "Don't forget there's a limit." Darry warned his brothers. They nodded, even though the gang did some stupid stuff they weren't that stupid. "That goes for you too Alice." Two-bit said in a big brotherly manner.

Alice nodded obediently. "You too Johnnycake." Dallas said, he knew he had to say something. Dallas was the closest thing to a caring older sibling that Johnny had, even though the whole gang was his family Dally was his one and only big brother. Johnny nodded obediently, if Dallas didn't want him doing that stuff he wouldn't walk within ten feet of it. After that dispute they found themselves ranting until god knows what time about how life wasn't fair for a greaser or how girls who hung out with greasers weren't cut any slack and how greaser girls could get real annoying sometimes but the socs were the worst of all and they got no sympathy here.

When they were done being serious it was time to lighten up and Two-bit and Soda were the main act, they pulled off every stunt and told every joke until everyone had told their fair share of funny stories and everyone was laughing and had a smile on their face. "Well it's pretty late, I'm gonna head on home." Steve said as he stood up and stretched. "Yeah me too, my mom'll have a heart attack if I stay out any longer." Two-bit said as he followed after Steve. "Thanks for a good time." He said as Steve and him walked out the door. "Bye Two-bit." Alice said.

He turned around before shutting the door and waved her goodbye giving her that wild grin that made her smile. "You want me to walk ya home Alice?" Johnny offered. Alice shook her head. "What if we run into those socs again?" Alice said worriedly. Johnny felt a shiver go down his spine, he knew he couldn't protect her from that car full of socs and it made him angry at himself for not being strong enough.

"I don't want you getting hurt, I'll just sleep in the lot." She said. "I'll stay with you." He said. The pair smiled at each other and headed towards the door and then they were stopped. The Curtis brothers had over heard their conversation and they were concerned. "You guys can't sleep in the lot, it's freezing out at night this time of year." Darry said.

"Why don't you guys stay here for tonight?" Ponyboy offered. They looked at each other and shrugged, they didn't see why not and it would have been an awful lot better then curling up on a dislodged car seat under a bunch of newspapers. So they agreed. "Good, I'll go get you guys some blankets." Soda said with a smile. "Thanks." Johnny said.

"No problem." He replied. "You mind if I crash here tonight?" Dally asked Darry. He nodded and Dally shook his hand and said "Thanks." "Anytime Dal." Darry said. "You're staying here too?" Alice asked with wide eyes full of curiosity.

Dally nodded. Alice smiled and Johnny beamed with happiness. "Cool." Johnny said. Dally smiled and rubbed Johnny's head gently. "I'm gonna hit the can before bed." He said.

Johnny nodded and Dally walked off. Darry headed off to bed and left Ponyboy standing alone in the living room with the pair. "Oh Johnny tomorrow's Monday." Alice said happily. Johnny rolled his eyes and let a small chuckle escape from his chest. "I'll watch it with ya but I ain't singin' along with it." Johnny said.

Alice nodded happily. "Watch what?" Ponyboy asked. "Beatles Cartoons." Johnny breathed out. Ponyboy blinked. "You're joking. Those exist?" Ponyboy asked, half laughing.

"Yeah, they're great!" Alice said cheerfully. Ponyboy turned to Johnny giving him a 'Really?' look and Johnny nodded. "I'll admit some of them are funny." Johnny said. "Mind if I watch with you guys?" Ponyboy asked nervously. Johnny and Alice blinked and exchanged confused looks.

"You serious?" Johnny asked. Pony nodded. "I thought you didn't like the Beatles." Alice said. Ponyboy really didn't want to say what he was about to say but he was only gonna say it because he wanted to make her happy. "I wanted to give 'em a try and see if I like 'em." Ponyboy said jamming his fists into his pockets and looking to the side.

Alice got so excited she could have burst. She couldn't help but throw her self in his direction and hug him tightly. "I'm so glad!" She said cheerfully. Ponyboy blushed madly as he hesitantly put his arms around her until he was hugging her too and even then she only tightened her grip. Johnny shot him a 'you're a smooth operator' look and Ponyboy rolled his eyes, Johnny had gotten kisses and hugs from her, compared to him, Ponyboy had accomplished nothing, and redirected his attention on the fact that Alice was still embracing him.

"S-so, what t-time do these cartoons come on?" Ponyboy stammered nervously. Alice released him and said "They come on at eight so we don't have to wake up too early to see 'em, but since we stayed up this late we might have to-" Alice stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Ponyboy's face was as red as an apple. "Are you okay Ponyboy?" Alice asked, she couldn't help but worry if her sudden contact with him had made him uncomfortable. "Y-yeah it's just, I wasn't expecting that." He said, as he scratched his head and looked over to the side.

Alice started to ring a finger through a lock of her hair and looked off to the side as well. Johnny knew what was up and he smiled. He knew Pony and Alice dug each other they were just too shy to make any moves so Johnny took it upon him self to gently push them in the right direction. "I'm gonna go see if Soda's got the blankets." He said as he left the room.

**Well there's chapter four, yeah I know it's a bit silly but shouldn't a story be silly every now and again? Hope you liked it! ^^**


	5. To Make Something Yours

**_Disclaimer:_ **I do not own The Outsiders novel or movie, nor do I profit from this story. The novel is by S.E. Hinton and the movie was directed and produced by Francis Ford Copella.  
><strong>**

**A/N:**** Here we are at chapter five, the end of line. I hope you guys weren't disappointed about how slow the rate of my updates were ^^' Enjoy!  
><strong>

Chapter Five: To Make Something Yours

Alice started to ring a finger through a lock of her hair and looked off to the side as well. Johnny knew what was up and he smiled. He knew Pony and Alice dug each other they were just too shy to make any moves so Johnny took it upon him self to gently push them in the right direction. "I'm gonna go see if Soda's got the blankets." He said as he left the room. It was quiet.

The two stood there for a moment before they made eye contact and when they did each of them blushed deeply and looked away from each others gaze. "So what's the score little man?" Soda whispered to Johnny as he peeked around the corner. "Soda I'm older then you." Johnny pointed out slightly irritated at the nickname Soda had chosen to address him as. "This is not the time for that!" Soda whisper yelled. Johnny sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Well it's obvious they both like each other but they're both too shy to do anything." Johnny said. Soda shook his head disappointingly. "This does not dig okay." He said. "I taught him better than that!" He exclaimed quietly as he motioned towards Ponyboy who was staring at his feet while Alice just fidgeted around with her hair. "Apparently not." Johnny said.

Soda stuck his tongue out at Johnny and crossed his arms. 'Come on Pony, make a move.' Soda encouraged mentally staring at the pair with anticipating eyes. 'Why do I feel like I'm under pressure to do something?' Ponyboy asked himself inwardly. He shook it off, even though he was nervous he knew this wouldn't do just sitting around like this he needed to be a man and make a move. Ponyboy looked at Alice who was still messing around with her hair, she looked up at him and when she caught his stare she blushed deeper and looked down again.

'Gosh she's cute when she does that.' Pony thought to himself with a smile. "Hey." He finally said. She looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. "Hi." She said quietly. "Makin' progress." Soda said, Johnny nodded.

"What are you knuckle heads up to?" Darry asked them from behind, Dally behind him. "Shhhhh!" They urged him quietly. "Pony might be gettin' himself a girlfriend." Soda said as he pointed towards the two. "Ha! I doubt it, look at him." Dally said pointing to Ponyboy who looked like a puppy with his tail between his legs. "Hey that's my baby brother you're bad mouthin'." Darry said as he elbowed Dallas.

He sighed and continued to watch the action, which wasn't really action but somewhat. "So, do you like the gang so far?" Ponyboy asked. Alice nodded. "Everyone's real nice." She said. Ponyboy nodded.

A few more moments of silence went by before Ponyboy finally got up the guts to go beyond the barrier of small talk and do something he'd been waiting a long time to do ever since he met her that fateful day last year. "Hey Alice, I wanna tell ya something." He finally dragged out. By now his heart, along with the other four greasers who were highly anticipating this, was beating as fast as a racing car hustling down the speedway. "I've been wantin' to tell ya," He began. Alice felt her stomach flutter as if it had a whole flock of birds taking off inside it, she knew what usually came after when someone said those words.

He clenched a fist and continued. "I…..I…" Ponyboy felt a lump forming in his throat but he swallowed it and pressed on. "Come on little brother." Darry encouraged quietly. "You're so close!" Soda exclaimed silently. Alice looked up at him and she could tell he was nervous, his face was so red and he could barely look at her.

"Y-yes Ponyboy?" She asked, she was nervous too. "I like you!" He finally blurted out. Alice felt her cheeks heat up and she felt like she was going to pass out. Ponyboy looked at her and she was blushing so deep her cheeks were the color of strawberries. "Well Alice?" Johnny said, he knew she had liked Ponyboy for just as long as Pony liked her and he was dying for her to finally admit it.

"I like you too Ponyboy." She said so softly you could barely hear her, her face still red. Ponyboy's eyes widened, he looked her in the eyes and he knew for sure she was telling the truth. Alice watched with her heart threatening to leap out of her chest as Ponyboy boldly moved across the room and closed the space between them. Ponyboy slowly moved his hands to cup her face and he gently rubbed smooth circles on her cheeks with his thumbs which made her blush deeper which Ponyboy didn't think was possible. Despite the fact that her feelings were out in the open she was still nervous because he was so close and she was still shy.

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as he moved into kiss her but he faltered a bit and let go of her. She opened her eyes again and saw Ponyboy with a slightly hurt expression. "W-what?" She asked timidly, had she done something wrong? "You don't look like you want me to kiss you." He said, looking away slightly ashamed. She shook her head slightly and gingerly moved his head back towards her.

"It's not that it's just, well I've never really, I haven't,…" She stopped and looked off to the side in embarrassment, her hand awkwardly dropping from his face. Ponyboy knew what she was going to say and he smiled slightly. "Alice I-" "Kiss her damn it!" Soda shouted. When the pair turned around and saw the small crowd they had drawn they turned beat red.

"Soda what the hell!" Ponyboy asked with a mix of shock and irritation in his features. "H-how long have you guys been standing there?" Alice asked nervously. The greasers looked at each other and decided to keep that a secret. "Not important." Soda said. The rest of them nodded in agreement.

Alice gave Johnny a 'Really?' look and he replied with a 'Well…' look that made Alice let out a heavy sigh. "Come on Pony, we've been waiting forever for this." Darry said. "Yeah." Dally and Johnny said in unison. Ponyboy and Alice looked at each other for a moment. "Only if you want to." He said courteously.

He looked into her dark brown eyes and saw a look that said 'Just do it already.' And with that Ponyboy kissed her right then and there for everyone to see. They all clapped and hooted and hollered and whistled while the lip lock continued. Alice found herself unable to control her body's urge to move on its own as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer. Ponyboy felt the same urges except he was moving of his own free will as he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer until there was no more space left between them. As it continued the gang felt a bit intrusive on the newly formed couple and decided to wait it out in Soda's room until they were done.

They finally had to part because they both needed air, and after that long of a kiss, lots of it. "Ponyboy?" Alice said in her soft voice, Ponyboy loved it when she sounded like that. He wanted to hold her closer every time he heard it because she sounded so fragile and he wanted nothing to touch her. "Yeah?" He asked. Alice fidgeted around with her hair before she said anything else.

She was so adorable he couldn't help the small smirk that curled on his lips when he thought about how he was the cause of her sheepish behavior. "Would you want to..….would you want to sleep…with me?" She asked, blushing slightly looking at him with eyes filled with an emotion that had questioning and nervousness all in one. Ponyboy blushed madly, he had no idea she was like that but he didn't see why not although he did see a few obstacles along the way. "Are you sure Johnny would be okay with that? I mean we're still pretty young and I wouldn't wanna hurt you. I don't know if my brothers would be okay with it either." He said nervously. Alice turned beat red, she had only meant it in terms of really sleeping not…..that.

"N-not like t-that!" She exclaimed nervously. Ponyboy blushed to her color, he had misunderstood completely. 'She must think I'm a total pervert now.' Ponyboy fretted mentally. "I-I'm sorry, its just when you said that I thought t-that, w-well you know the sleeping that, w-when people…I'm sorry." He said frantically. Alice smiled, he was cute when he was nervous.

She took him by the hand and stroked it with her thumb in a comforting manner. "It's okay, I understand." She said smiling sheepishly. Ponyboy grinned, now that they were on the same page he was pretty sure that his brothers and Johnny wouldn't have a problem with that besides they probably think that him and Alice are way to innocent to do that. "Wait here I'll be back." He said. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then headed towards Soda's and his room.

Alice slumped down onto the floor and held a hand to her heart. 'What a day this turned out to be.' She thought as a wide grin spread across her face. "Hey Soda?" Ponyboy said, this wasn't gonna be easy to explain. "Oh well if it isn't our resident lover boy." Soda teased. Ponyboy rolled his eyes.

"Alice wanted to know….if, we could sleep together but before y-" Ponyboy was cut off with a celebratory slap on the back by his older brother. Everyone hooted and hollered for Ponyboy while Johnny just stared into space, he was in shock. "Alice said that?" Johnny asked, he didn't believe it. He had known Alice for a long time and that didn't sound like her. "Yeah b-"

"My baby brother's gettin' laid tonight!" Soda shouted cheerfully as he ruffled his hair. "You better use a condom little man." Darry said sternly. "Of course I would but-" Ponyboy was interrupted again when Dallas slapped him on the back and said "It's about time this little squirt got some." with a smirk on his face. "For Christ's sake were not having sex!" Ponyboy finally shouted out over the celebratory chatter and hollering. Alice blinked.

She had heard that all the way from the living room and she was not too happy about it. "This is not the end of this I'm sure." She said to her self with a heavy sigh hoping her newfound love wasn't in any trouble. "But I thought she said," Soda was confused and so was everyone else in the room. "She meant as in sleeping not sex, ya bunch of pervs." Ponyboy said, he had every right to be irritated he was interrupted like four times and for some unwanted comments at that. Johnny sighed in relief, Alice was too young to be doing that kind of stuff or at least in Johnny's eyes she was.

"That's boring." Dally said with a disappointed frown. "Whatever, so can I Soda?" Ponyboy asked, he was getting impatient and he didn't want to keep her waiting just the thought of her sitting alone in that empty room made him long to hold her. '…..that was so sappy I can't stand it.' Ponyboy thought to himself as sweat drop slid down the back of his head. "I don't see why not, Darryl?" Soda asked the elder brother. Darry nodded.

"Just don't fool around with her, no one needs to hear that." He said sternly. Ponyboy nodded and quickly walked out of the room but before he was completely out the door he turned back around. He knew Alice would want Johnny's consent on this he was like her big brother and she would be intent on following his order. "Hey Johnny, are you okay with this?" He asked. Johnny looked up and smiled at Ponyboy.

"Yeah it's cool man." He said, he gave Ponyboy a look that said 'be good to her' and with that Ponyboy nodded and headed out the door. When he walked back into the living room, Alice was fiddling around with her shoe lace. When she saw him come in she stood up and looked at him as if she were asking what had happened with her eyes. "They said it was okay." Ponyboy said with a smile. Alice smiled but then it faltered.

"What did Johnny say?" She asked, Johnny was like her big brother it was up to him whether she did this or not no matter how much she wanted to. "I made sure to ask him for you, he said it was okay." Ponyboy reassured her. Alice grinned brightly, she was too happy to go to sleep so she sat back down on the couch and Ponyboy joined her. He slipped an arm around her and she leaned into his chest. "You wanna watch some TV or something?" He asked.

She nodded. Ponyboy flipped on the TV and the news came on and the first words they heard was 'found murdered in her Miami apartment along with her only son'. They both blinked before Ponyboy changed the channel to some night time soap opera. "God the news gets more and more depressin' I swear." Ponyboy sighed in annoyance. Alice nodded.

"That's why I don't watch it unless there's an interview with one of my favorite bands on." She said. "I bet you've watched a ton of Beatles stuff haven't you?" He teased. Alice rolled her eyes and grinned. "Of course, I thought you said you loved me." She said with fake disappointment. "You know I do." He said, a tinge of worry in his voice. He knew she was joking though.

"Then you should know this." She said jokingly. Ponyboy laughed and kissed her forehead. "I love you." He said smiling. Alice flushed slightly, she was going to have to get use to that. "I love you too." She said in a soft tone.

Ponyboy pulled her closer and she snuggled into him. He could get use to this. After watching about an hour of the soap opera, they didn't really watch it they just talked through it, Alice started to feel tired so Ponyboy took her to his old room so she could sleep. "I'm gonna go change." He said. Alice nodded and sat on the bed.

He left the room for a moment and when he came back he was wearing nothing but a pair of old jeans he'd sleep in sometimes, he didn't think it would be very tuff if he went to bed with his new girlfriend in blue and white striped pajama pants. The sound of the door opening and shutting caught Alice's attention and when she was greeted by a shirtless Ponyboy she became so nervous she couldn't even look at him. "I-I thought you understood that-" "N-no I know, I always sleep like this. It gets hot in this house during the night so I sorta got into the habit of sleeping like this, I'm sorry." He said nervously. Alice shook her head.

"It's okay I don't mind, I was just caught off guard is all." She said. To be honest, she was liking this just a little. Ponyboy had a really good build and it was pretty attractive to Alice. It wasn't until Ponyboy looked back at her that he noticed she was staring at him and he decided to mess with her. "I know, try not to faint." He said winking at her. She blushed madly and stared down at her lap while Ponyboy just laughed.

"I'm just messin' with ya." He said with a teasing grin. She looked up at him and stuck her tongue out at him. He was right though. She was starting to feel the heat so she decided there wouldn't be to much harm in her taking off her sweater, she had a tank top on under it. She shifted out of the sweater and let it drop to the floor.

Ponyboy opened the window to let in the cool night air, when he looked back at her and saw she had taken her sweater off he flushed a little but then he noticed she was struggling to take off a necklace but she just couldn't get the little lock to undo. "Here I'll do it." He offered. He slipped it off her neck and looked at it, it was a dog tag necklace with the name 'James Winters' written on it. "Who's this?" Ponyboy asked as he pointed at the name engraved on the dog tag as he handed it to her. Alice hesitated.

"It's my brother, he's a marine." She said, a tinge of sadness in her soft voice. Ponyboy felt a little bad for her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "It's okay." Alice melted into the embrace and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

When they backed away Ponyboy took this opportunity to kiss her. She felt a bit stiff at first because of how nervous she was of doing something wrong but after a moment or so she melted into it. He pulled away and smiled at her and she grinned brightly "Thank you." She said. "No problem." He said tenderly, matching her grin with a warm smile of his own. He rubbed her hair gently before he got up and she leaned slightly into his touch.

"I gotta go to bathroom real quick." He said. She nodded and he walked out the door. Once he came back Alice had gotten into a sleeping position and Ponyboy joined her, after all they had done he was tired too. He got under the covers with her and pulled her towards him. She snuggled into his chest and let her hands rest on his shoulders.

"I love you." He whispered into her ear fervently. Alice felt a shiver go through her. "I love you too." She said shakily. He smoothed his hand over her hair and then slid it back down to her back before he said "Good night." Alice let her head lean into the crook of his neck and smiled to herself. "Good night Ponyboy." She said, and before she knew it she drifted into the dreamy world of slumber.

**Well there you have it folks, I know it got really sappy towards the e****nd but what can I say; The requester was a sucker for romance**. **I hope you guys enjoyed it, I'm thinking about doing a small little after story for this story but the subject is still somewhat of a g****rey area**. **Please don't be shy if you have a request for something else though! ^^**


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